fc

Display commands from the history list or modify and execute specified history commands.

Synopsis

fc [-e ename] [-lnr] [first] [last]
fc -s [pat=rep] [command]

Main Purpose

Display commands from the history list.
Edit and re-execute commands from the history list.

Options

-e ename                  Select the editor to use. The default calling order is the environment variable `FCEDIT`, then `EDITOR`, and finally `vi`.
-l                        List the commands instead of editing them.
-n                        Do not output line numbers when listing (must be used with the -l option).
-r                        List commands in reverse order, with the most recently executed first (must be used with the -l option).
-s [pat=rep] [command]    The command (defaults to the last executed command if not specified) will be re-executed after replacing `pat` with `rep`.

Parameters

first: Optional; can be a string (the most recent command starting with that string), a number (index in the history list, negative numbers represent an offset from the current command number). If not specified, it defaults to the previous command with an offset of -16 (the 16 most recent commands).

last: Optional; can be a string (the most recent command starting with that string), a number (index in the history list, negative numbers represent an offset from the current command number). If not specified, it defaults to the value of the first parameter.

Return Value

Returns success or the status of the executed command. Returns a non-zero value when an error occurs.

Examples

Replace command parameters:

# List the ~ directory
ls ~
# Replace ~ with /; after replacement, list the root directory.
fc -s ~=/

Display the 10 most recently used history commands:

[root@localhost ~]# fc -l -10
1039     type -a grep
1040     export
1041     history 10
1042     ulimit -a
1043     shopt
1044     help ls
1045     help env
1046     help short
1047     help shopt
1048     showkey -a

Edit history command number 1040:

[root@localhost ~]# fc 1040

Note

After closing the terminal, the history list will be written to the history file ~/.bash_history.
The value of the environment variable FCEDIT is the default editor for fc.
This command is a bash built-in; for related help information, please refer to the help command.